Harvest moon

Portrait of Yosa Buson
Yosa Buson 1716–1784

Harvest moon-- called at his house, he was digging potatoes.

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Elizabeth Penrose105 words
  1. Jose Australia

    arnt haiku poems meant to have 5 syllables in the first line 7in the second line and 5 in the third line?

  2. Elizabeth Penrose United States

    The haiku _in Japanese_ has a syllabic count of 5-7-5. Many American translations try to keep to the same form in translation, and lost some of the poem's meaning. (In comparison, imagine an English-language translator trying to find English words to rhyme with _chien_!)

    A lot of English haiku are written in the 5-7-5 patterns, but nowadays some are written in different patterns. Look at the American Haiku Society website for an idea of the variety.

    If a short, seasonal nature poem, with ideas that stretch beyond the work itself, falls into a varient syllable pattern, is it still a haiku? Answer at length. ;-)

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